WO2009066961A1 - Method, system and computer-readable recording medium for providing personalized news content search service - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method, a system and a computer-readable recording medium for providing a personalized news contents search service according to a user's personalized setting for news providers. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing a personalized search result for news contents, the method comprising the steps of : creating and storing a personalized list for news contents providers; and providing a search result for news contents based on the personalized list for news contents providers.

Description

[DESCRIPTION]

[invention Title]

METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM FOR PROVIDING PERSONALIZED NEWS CONTENT SEARCH SERVICE [Technical Field]

[Cross-reference to Related Application]

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0120474 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on

November 23, 2007, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to a method, a system and a computer-readable recording medium for providing a personalized news contents search service according to a user's personalized setting for news providers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method, a system and a computer-readable recording medium for enabling a user to search for news contents according to the user's personalized setting for news providers when the user conducts a search for news contents after connecting to a search portal site on internet. [Background Art]

In General, news contents can be expressed in various ways according to a journalist's view point or a news provider's propensity, though the news contents are regarding the same topic or item. Thus, a user may have his own preference for a particular news provider.

However, the conventional news contents search system has provided a user with a search result for news contents according^' to well-known^"* and simple rules. For example, such a search result, which is formed based on the user's request (involving a query or a keyword), has been provided in order of the time when the news contents were posted.

[Disclosure] [Technical Problem]

With the 'conventional system, there has been a difficulty in reflecting a user's taste on a search result. That is, the only way for the user to reflect his own preference for a particular news provider was to construct and input his own queries. In other words, with the conventional system, the user had to construct and input his own queries related to a name or a propensity of a particular news provider into a. search box, and thereby the search result could be filtered.

Further, with the conventional system, even news contents from a news provider that is not favored by a user were provided to the user at times since the news contents search were based only on the queries.

Thus, presented are the needs for enabling a user to search for news contents more conveniently by using a personalized setting that reflects the user's preference for news providers.

[Technical Solution]

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems .

It is another object of the present invention to permit a user to search for news contents based on the user's preference for news providers. It is yet another object of the present invention to store a user's personalized setting for news providers in a terminal or other devices, thereby let the personalized setting be reused later.

It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a user with a search result for news contents more quickly.

[Advantageous Effect]

In accordance with the present invention, which is directed to a method and a system for providing a personalized news contents search service, a user can be provided with a search result for news contents that reflects the user's preference or aversion toward news providers. Besides, from a user's position, concrete advantages in accordance with the present invention are found as follows:

1. Once a user stores his own personalized setting for news providers, the user can be provided with a search result for news contents based on the personalized setting;

2. If a user changes his personalized setting for news providers, the user can accordingly be provided with a search result for news contents that is updated on a real time basis;

3. Time for a user to spend acquiring necessary news contents can be reduced; and 4. A user can be provided with a search result for news contents more quickly.

Further, advantageous effects to an enterprise managing a search portal site are as follows:

1. A search portal site can be a cyber space of more convenience and its search traffic can be increased by providing users with news contents that are more suitable for the users.

2. Information on news providers that users prefer or not can be acquired.

[Description of Drawings]

The above objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an overall system for providing a personalized search result for news contents in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate examples of web pages providing a search result for news contents in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating web pages for permitting a user to make a personalized list for news providers in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrams depicting an extended news provider setting portion in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

[Best Mode]

To achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, several representative configurations are presented as follows.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing a personalized search result for news contents, the method comprising the steps of: creating and storing a personalized list for news contents providers; and providing a search result for news contents based on the personalized list for news contents providers.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing a personalized search result for news contents, the system comprising: a first computational device for storing a template of a list for news contents providers, wherein the template is transmittable; and a second computational device in communication with the first computational device for storing a personalized list for news contents providers in the form of a user cookie, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is created by using the template of the list for news contents providers transmitted from the first computational device.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing a personalized search result for news contents, the system comprising: a first computational device for storing a template of a list for news contents providers, wherein the template is transmittable; and a second computational device in communication with the first computational device for transmitting a personalized list for news contents providers to the first computational device, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is created by using the template of the list for news contents providers transmitted from the first computational device.

[Mode for Invention]

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present invention. It is to be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention, although different, are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, a particular feature, structure or characteristic described herein in connection with one embodiment may be implemented within other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, it is to be understood that the location or arrangement of individual elements within each disclosed embodiment may be modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims, appropriately interpreted, along with the full range of equivalents to which the ^■ claims are entitled. In the drawings, like numerals refer to the same or similar functionality throughout the several views.

The present invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Configuration of Overall System Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an overall system for providing a personalized search result for news contents in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, an overall system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention may include a user terminal 100 with which a user can connect to internet 200, a server 300 providing the user with a search result for news contents, a database 310 interlocking with the server 300, and a plurality of news providers' web servers 400 providing news contents in response to the user's request.

A user terminal 100 included in the overall system may be a digital device with which the user can connect to a server 300 through internet 200 and search for news contents. Examples of the user terminal 100 are a desktop computer, a notebook computer and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) .

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a user may be provided with news contents from a web server 400 via a server 300 by taking the serial steps of activating a web browser (e.g., Netscape™, Internet Explorer™, or conventional applications for enabling a news contents search on the user terminal 100), connecting to the server 300, inputting a query for the search into a search box, and transmitting the query to the server 300.

In accordance with one preferred embodiment .of the present invention, when a user conducts a search for news contents, the user may be provided with a personalized search result for news contents by making a personalized list for news providers. The service for enabling the user to make the personalized list for news providers may be called "my news service." Further, in this connection, the user's personalized list for news providers may be stored in the user terminal 100.

A^" server 300 may manage a search portal site for providing a news contents search service, direct a news contents search engine (not shown) to search for news contents based on a query, which was inputted by a user and then stored in a query buffer (not shown) . Further, the server 300 may store in a search result buffer (not shown) the search result for news contents derived by the news contents search engine, and provide the user with the search result so that the user can browse it. If necessary, the news contents search engine, the query buffer and the search result buffer may be included not in the server 300 but in other computational devices or recording media.

Further, when a user issues a request for a search result for news contents, a server 300 may provide the user with a search result based on the personalized list

(for "my news service") for news providers, limiting some news contents from particular news providers. This search result for news contents may be stored in the search result buffer (not shown) and provided for the user's view.

Meanwhile, a database 310 may store a list of all of the news providers (and a template for presenting the list to a user) , and with the list, news contents can be provided to the user through "my news service." If necessary, the database 310 may include a personalized list for news providers, which is stored corresponding to each user's login information (e.g., a user ID, a user name, etc.). Such a personalized list for news providers is used for "my news service." Especially, the template for presenting the list for all of the news providers may be updated periodically or every time a new web server 400 is added to a search window of the news contents search engine. Though, as shown in Fig. 1, the database 310 may be connected to and communicate with the server 300, the database 310 may also be included in the server 300.

In accordance with said and following embodiments of the present invention, the method for providing a personalized news contents search service can be implemented as executable program instructions and recorded in recording media of a user terminal 100, a server 300 or a database 310. Moreover, the recording media may include program instructions, data files, data structures and combination thereof. Examples of the recording media include, but are not limited to, hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic media such as magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto- optical media such as floptical disks, and hardware units such as ROMs, RAMs, flash memories, etc. The program instructions recorded in the recording media may be elements specially designed and configured for the present invention or may be known and usable to a person skilled in the field of computer software. The above-mentioned program instructions include not only a machine language code made by a compiler but also a high level code that can be executed by an interpreter on a computer.

In the following, the detailed processes for providing a user with a personalized search result for news contents by using the overall system in accordance with the present invention will be described. Creating and Storing Personalized List for News Providers

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the detailed embodiments of the present invention will be given. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate examples of web pages providing a search result for news contents in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

In case a user did not set his own preference for news providers in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a web page as shown in Fig. 2 may be displayed when the user conducts a search for news contents. In Fig. 2, a portion 210 for displaying a search result for news contents displays a whole search result for news contents based on a query inputted by the user. By referring to a guidance layer 220 regarding my news service, which is placed on one side of the displaying portion 210, the user can easily understand and access my news service. The guidance layer 220 may include a guidance phrase on my news service, a phrase including a hyperlink permitting a direct access to a news provider setting portion 330 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and a button to close the window for the guidance layer 220.

Fig. 3 shows a guidance phrase 230 for describing whether or not the search result for news contents that is being displayed to a user is derived from the user's preferred news providers in accordance with the present invention .

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a user may connect to the web pages shown in Figs. 4 and 5 by clicking the phrase for turning to the news provider setting portion 330 on the web page shown inFig. 2 or 3. Needless to say, the user may perform other kinds of operations to use my news service (i.e., to make displayed and use the web pages shown in Figs. 4 and 5) . Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating web pages for permitting a user to make a personalized list for news providers in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention

First, referring to Fig. 4, a search mode converting portion 310, which permits a user to easily choose whether the user searches all the news providers ' contents or only the news contents from particular news providers selected according to my news service, is placed on the web page. Moreover, Fig. 4 indicates that a guidance phrase 320 on setting preferred news providers and the news provider setting portion 330 is placed on the web page. Depending on cases, the guidance layer 220 may also be presented on the web page shown in Fig. 4.

A user may select news providers that he prefers or exclude news providers that he doesn't prefer by using a news provider setting portion 330 or a news provider setting portion 330a that is popping up to the user. Considering the number of news providers that the user can select or exclude is not small, a few groups of the news providers may be displayed in groupings on the news provider setting portion 330, 330a.

The configuration of the web page shown in Fig. 5 is similar to the above except that the web page shown in Fig, 5 is configured on the assumption that it is difficult to display all the news providers on the news provider setting portion 330 as shown in Fig. 4. In case of the web page shown in Fig. 5, the news provider setting portion 330 provides a function for a user to set his own preference for major news providers, and a button 340 can be used to receive the user's request for a list for all the news providers. ^" In this regard, Figs. 6 and 7 may be further referred to.

Meanwhile, as mentioned before, the news provider setting portion 330 may be presented in a more extended form. Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrams depicting an extended news provider setting portion in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The news provider setting portion 410 in Fig. 7 provides a list for news providers in an alphabetical order, while the news provider setting portion 410 in Fig. 6 provides such a list according to a categorization.

A user's personalized list for news providers, which has been created as described above, may be stored in either a user terminal 100 or a database 310. First, in case that a personalized list for news providers is stored in a user terminal 100, it may be stored in the form of an HTTP cookie. Herein., a cookie means a small-sized computer file that stores information for intermediating communication between a web server and a user terminal, and is stored belonging to a directory of a web browser. In detail, the main feature of a cookie is to hold information on the records a user read from or stored in a web site, which the user accessed through internet. Especially, in case that a user accesses a particular web site, the browsing paths and the behaviors, which the user took in the web site (e.g., the contents the user activated or the goods the user purchased) , may be stored in the cookie.

Therefore, in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention, in case that a user's personalized list for news providers is stored in a cookie, it is possible to provide the user with my news service by using the cookie as long as the user keeps using his own terminal 100 and the corresponding web site. In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, my news service can be implemented by using not a cookie but a user's login information. Generally, a user can provide his own private information to a search portal site, and then be provided with a user ID corresponding to the information. Such a user ID or other private information can be regarded as the user's login information because it can be used for login authentication at the search portal site. Therefore, if a user creates a personalized list for news providers after a login process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the personalized list for news providers may be stored in a server 300 or a database 310 interlocking with the server 300, corresponding to the user's login information. This embodiment would be less preferred in that it necessitates the user's login process. However, it has merits that the personalized list for news providers corresponds to the user, not the user terminal 100 that stores a cookie, and the personalized list for news providers can be easily exported to other user's virtual accounts (e.g., an e-mail account or a login account ) .

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a user's personalized list for news providers may include additional information on news sections of each news provider. It is generally accepted that news contents can be classified into categorizations such as newsflash, politics, economy, society, living/culture, world, IT/science, entertainment, column, foreign affairs, magazine and technical journal, and thus, can be arranged accordingly. Though most news providers have these sections in common, each news provider may have its own merits and demerits .in some specific sections. For example, a news provider may have a strong point or be slanted along with particular sections. Therefore, a server 300 may provide a user with a template that permits his own personalized list for news providers to include or exclude particular sections of each news provider.

Search by Using Personalized List for News Providers As described above, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a personalized list for news providers may be created even by a user's minimal operation, and then be stored in the user terminal 100, a server 300 or a database 310. In the following, presented are techniques for enabling a more prompt and convenient search for news contents by using the personalized list for news providers in accordance with the present invention .

First, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, each news provider's identification information that should be included in the list for news providers needs coding. For example, assuming that there are more than 300 (in case, even more than 1,000) news providers, the code of each news provider may be expressed in the form of a decimal vector having three elements, an example of which is (3, 4, 6) . In this case, up to 10³ news providers can be expressed following the same principle.. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, in case that a user updates his own personalized list for news providers (e.g., includes or excludes a particular news provider to/from the user's personalized list), refreshing a search result based on the user's personalized list on a real time basis is necessary. In this case, coding information on the news providers as described above would be helpful to reduce the amount of time for refreshing the search result.

Further, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a user can arrange his own list for news providers to include not a few news providers and exclude a few news providers (Surely, the user can arrange his own list for news providers to include only a few news providers and exclude not a few news providers). In this case, whenever a user requests for a search result for news contents, indiscriminatively conducting OR operations for news providers may lead to inefficient search. Therefore, in case that the user's personalized list for news providers includes not a few news providers or excludes a few news providers, it is desirable to let the user terminal 100 construct a search request for conducting NOR operations for news providers that should be excluded, and then request for a search result to the server. That is, employing a personalized list for news providers in accordance with the present invention may lead to increasing search efficiency for news contents.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim l]

A method for providing a personalized search result for news contents, the method comprising the steps of: creating and storing a personalized list for news contents providers; and providing a search result for news contents based on the personalized list for news contents providers.

[Claim 2]

The method of claim 1, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is comprised of information on a user's preference or aversion toward news contents providers .

[Claim 3]

The method of claim 1, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is comprised of information on a user's preference for news contents providers and information on a specific news section of each of the news contents providers.

[Claim 4]

The method of claim 1, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is stored in a terminal in the form of a user cookie .

[Claim 5]

The method of claim 1, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is stored in association with a user's login information.

[Claim 6]

The method of claim 5, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is stored in an external device other than a user terminal.

[Claim 7]

The method of claim 5, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is transmittable to other user's virtual account.

[Claim 8]

The method of claim 1, wherein the search result for news contents is provided further based on a query inputted by a user.

[Claim 9]

A computer-readable recording medium for recording a computer program to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.

[Claim 10]

A system for providing a personalized search result for news contents, the system comprising: a first computational device for storing a template of a list for news contents providers, wherein the template is transmittable; and a second computational device in communication with the first computational device for storing a personalized list for news contents providers in the form of a user cookie, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is created by using the template of the list for news contents providers transmitted from the first computational device.

[Claim 11]

A system for providing a personalized search result for news contents, the system comprising: a first computational device for storing a template of a list for news contents providers, wherein the template is transmittable; and a second computational device in communication with the first computational device for transmitting a personalized list for news contents providers to the first computational device, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is created by using the template of the list for news contents providers transmitted from the first computational device.

[Claim 12]

The system of claim 10 or 11, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is comprised of information on a user's preference or aversion toward news contents providers.

[Claim 13]

The system of claim 10 or 11, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is comprised of information on a user's preference for news contents providers and information on a specific news section of each of the news contents providers.

[Claim 14] The system of claim 11, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is stored in association with a user's login information.

[Claim 15] The system of claim 14, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is stored in an external device other than the second computational device.

[Claim 16] The system of claim 14, wherein the personalized list for news contents providers is transmittable to other user's virtual account.

[Claim 17] The system of claim 10 or 11, wherein the first computational device provides a searcn result for news contents based on the personalized list for news contents providers .

[Claim 18]

The system of claim 17, wherein the search result for news contents is provided further based on a query inputted by a user.